Northern Trust to take on 400 over next five years

A LEADING US financial services company will more than double its workforce in Limerick as part of a major expansion of its Irish operation. Fund administrator Northern Trust is to take on another 400 employees at its Limerick base over the next five years.

Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton, who met company executives during a trade mission to the US, made the announcement.

“These are highly skilled roles and the company will work with University of Limerick and the Limerick Institute of Technology in filling them,” he said.

The Limerick office, which already has 300 workers on the payroll, is regarded as a fund administration centre of excellence. It provides administration and support to alternative, multi-manager and traditional investment managers, pension funds, multinationals, insurance companies and not-for-profit organisations.

Catherine Duffy, general manager for Northern Trust’s Limerick office, said UL and LIT would be a strong source of new graduate employees. The expansion is being supported by the Government through IDA Ireland.

IDA Ireland chief executive Barry O’Leary said the announcement was a coup for Ireland and Limerick. “This investment strengthens Ireland’s reputation and specifically the midwest region, as a location of choice for highly skilled financial services operations.”

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said: “I hope that the success of Northern Trust in Limerick and today’s vote of confidence will encourage other financial services companies to establish in the region.”

Northern Trust, a financial holding company founded in Chicago in 1889, has offices in 18 US states and 16 international locations. It has assets under custody of $4.6 trillion (€3.5 trillion), and assets under investment management of $704.3 billion (€540 billion).

The announcement is the first major jobs boost for the area since the closure of the Dell plant in 2009.